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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (since 1987) or MGM, is a media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of cinema and television programs. On April 8, 2005 the company was acquired by a partnership led by Sony and Comcast for $US 4.8 billion. MGM now produces film and television content in conjunction with Sony Pictures, although in March 2006 it announced that it would continue distributing some theatrical films under the MGM name, separate from the Sony Pictures brand. From the end of the Silent Film Era through World War II, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was the preeminient motion picture studio in Hollywood, with the greatest output of all of the studios: at its height, it released one feature film a week, along with many short subjects and serials. A victim of the massive restructuring of the motion picture industry during the 1950s and 60s, it was ultimately unable to cope with the loss of its theater chain (due to the Paramount decrees), and the power shift from studio bosses to independent producers and agents. On November 3, 2010, MGM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.MGM Files Bankruptcy, Rejecting Lions Gate, Icahn Bid, Business Week, November 3, 2010MGM Officially Files for Bankruptcy, Hollywood News, November 3, 2010Judge Approves MGM Bankruptcy Plan, Variety, November 4, 2010 MGM emerged from bankruptcy on December 20, 2010, at which time the executives of Spyglass Entertainment, Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, became co-Chairmen and co-CEOs of the holding company of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.Bankruptcy Attorney website MGM emerges from bankruptcy, visited 17 July 2011 Overview former company headquarters highlighted by the famous Leo the Lion logo at the top]] The studio's official motto, "Ars Gratia Artis", is a Latin phrase meaning "Art for art's sake";Costanzo, Linda Cahir. Literature Into Film: Theory and Practical Approaches. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2006. ISBN 0-7864-2597-0; Naremore, James and Brantlinger, Patrick. Modernity and Mass Culture. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1991. ISBN 0-253-20627-8Wayne, Jane Ellen. The Golden Girls of MGM: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly, and Others. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2003. ISBN 0-7867-1303-8Berliner, Barbara; Corey, Melinda; and Ochoa, George. The Book of Answers: The New York Public Library Telephone Reference Service's Most Unusual and Entertaining Questions. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992. ISBN 0-671-76192-7 it was chosen by Howard Dietz, the studio's chief publicist.Sheed, Wilfrid. The House That George Built: With a Little Help from Irving, Cole, and a Crew of About Fifty. Reprint ed. New York: Random House Publishing Group, 2008. ISBN 0-8129-7018-7Silvester, Christopher. The Grove Book of Hollywood. Reprint ed. New York: Grove Press, 2002. ISBN 0-8021-3878-0 The studio's logo is a roaring lion surrounded by a ring of film inscribed with the studio's motto. The logo, which features Leo the Lion, was created by Dietz in 1916 for Goldwyn Pictures and updated in 1924 for MGM's use.Fricke, John. "For 70 Years, MGM Has Produced the Lion's Share of Classic Films and Hollywood Talent." Billboard. July 30, 1994; Flexner, Stuart Berg. Listening to America: An Illustrated History of Words and Phrases From Our Lively and Splendid Past. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1982. ISBN 0-671-24895-2; Rowsome, Frank. They Laughed When I Sat Down: An Informal History of Advertising in Words and Pictures. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1959.Crabb, Kelly Charles. The Movie Business: The Definitive Guide to the Legal and Financial Secrets of Getting Your Movie Made. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2005. ISBN 0-7432-6492-4 Dietz based the logo on his alma mater's mascot—the Columbia University lion.Fordin, Hugh. M-G-M's Greatest Musicals: The Arthur Freed Unit. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press, 1996. ISBN 0-306-80730-0; Scarfone, Jay and Stillman, William. The Wizardry of Oz: The Artistry and Magic of the 1939 M-G-M Classic. Rev. ed. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2004. ISBN 1-55783-624-8 Originally silent, the sound of Leo the Lion's roar was added to films for the first time in August 1928. In the 1930s and 1940s the studio billed itself as having "more stars than there are in heaven", a reference to the large number of A-list movie stars under contract to the company.Doherty, Thomas Patrick. Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930–1934. Paperback ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-231-11095-2; Hark, Ina Rae. American Cinema of the 1930s: Themes and Variations. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2007. ISBN 0-8135-4082-8; Pitt, Dale. Los Angeles A to Z: An Encyclopedia of the City and County. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1997. ISBN 0-520-20530-8 This second motto was also coined by Deitz,Dardis, Tom. Keaton, the Man Who Wouldn't Lie Down. 2d ed. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corporation, 1996. ISBN 0-87910-117-2; Walker, Alexander. Elizabeth. Reprint ed. New York: Grove Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8021-3769-5; Fleming, E.J. The Fixers: Eddie Mannix, Howard Strickling, and the MGM Publicity Machine. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2004. ISBN 0-7864-2027-8; Dietz, Howard. Dancing in the Dark. San Antonio, Tex.: Quadrangle, 1974. ISBN 0-8129-0439-7 and was probably first used in 1932.Carey, Gary. All the Stars in Heaven: Louis B. Mayer's MGM. New York: Dutton, 1981. ISBN 0-525-05245-3 MGM was the last studio to convert to sound pictures, but in spite of this fact, from the end of the silent film era through the late 1950s, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was the dominant motion picture studio in Hollywood.Bohn, Thomas W.; Stromgren, Richard L.; and Johnson, Daniel H. Light & Shadows: A History of Motion Pictures. 2d ed. New York: Alfred Pub. Co., 1978. ISBN 0-88284-057-6; Gomery, Douglas. The Coming of Sound: A History. New York: Routledge, 2005. ISBN 0-415-96901-8 Always slow to respond to changing legal, economic, and demographic nature of the motion picture industry during the 1950s and 1960s,Maltby, Richard. Hollywood Cinema. 2d ed. Indianapolis, Ind.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2003. ISBN 0-631-21615-4Wyatt, Justin. "From Roadshow to Saturation Release: Majors, Independents, and Marketing/Distribution Innovations." In The New American Cinema. Jon Lewis, ed. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-8223-2115-7Browne, Pat. The Guide to United States Popular Culture. Madison, Wisc.: Popular Press, 2001. ISBN 0-87972-821-3 and although at times its films did well at the box office the studio lost significant amounts of money throughout the 1960s. In 1966, MGM was sold to the Canadian investor Edgar Bronfman, Sr., whose son Edgar, Jr. would later buy Universal Studios. Three years later, an increasingly unprofitable MGM was bought by Kirk Kerkorian, who slashed staff and production costs, forced the studio to produce low-budget fare, and then shut down theatrical distribution in 1973. The studio continued to produce five to six films a year that were released through other studios, mostly United Artists. Kerkorian did, however, commit to increased production and an expanded film library when he bought United Artists in 1981. MGM ramped up internal production as well as keeping production going at UA which included the lucrative James Bond film franchise.Cook, David A. Lost Illusions: American Cinema in the Shadow of Watergate and Vietnam, 1970–1979. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999. ISBN 0-684-80463-8 It also incurred significant amounts of debt in order to increase production.Prince, Stephen. A New Pot of Gold: Hollywood Under the Electronic Rainbow, 1980–1989. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999. ISBN 0-684-80493-X The studio took on additional debt as a series of owners took charge in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1986, Ted Turner bought MGM, but a few months later, sold the company back to Kerkorian to recoup massive debt, while keeping the library assets for himself. The series of deals left MGM even more heavily in debt. MGM was bought by Pathé Communications (led by Italian publishing magnate Giancarlo Parretti) in 1990, but Parretti lost control of Pathé and defaulted on the loans used to purchase the studio. The French banking conglomerate Crédit Lyonnais, the studio's major creditor, then took control of MGM."Bank Takes MGM-Pathe." Associated Press. May 8, 1992. Even more deeply in debt, MGM was purchased by a joint venture between Kerkorian, producer Frank Mancuso, and Australia's Seven Network in 1996."Seven Network Criticized For MGM Purchase." New York Times. July 18, 1996. MGM purchased Metromedia's film subsidiaries (Orion Pictures, The Samuel Goldwyn Company, and the Motion Picture Corporation of America) for $573 million in 1997, and Kerkorian bought out Seven Network the following year."Kerkorian to Increase Stake in M-G-M." New York Times. August 20, 1998. MGM used debt to acquire PolyGram Filmed Entertainment's 1,300-title library from Seagram in 1999 for $250 million, and obtained the broadcast rights to more than 800 of its films previously licensed to Turner Broadcasting.Legomsky, Joanne. "Take 3 for Kerkorian: The Rebuilding of MGM." New York Times. October 17, 1999; "MGM Regains Rights to Films." New York Times. September 16, 1999. MGM then purchased 20 percent of Cablevision Systems for $825 million in 2001."MGM Agrees to Buy Stake in 4 Cable Channels." New York Times. February 2, 2001. MGM attempted to take over Universal Studios in 2003 but failed, and was forced to sell several of its cable channel investments (taking a $75 million loss on the deal).Sorkin, Andrew Ross and Fabrikant, Geraldine. "MGM Withdraws Bid for Vivendi Entertainment Units." New York Times. July 30, 2003; Fabrikant, Geraldine. "MGM to Sell Its Stake in Three Cable Channels." New York Times. July 1, 2003. The debt load from these business deals negatively affected MGM's ability to survive as an independent motion picture studio. After a three-way bidding war which involved Time Warner (successor to Time, Inc. and current parent of Turner Broadcasting) and General Electric, MGM was acquired on September 23, 2004, by a partnership led by Sony Corporation of America, Comcast, Texas Pacific Group (now TPG Capital, L.P.), Providence Equity Partners, and other investors.Marich, Robert. Marketing to Moviegoers: A Handbook of Strategies and Tactics. 2d ed. Carbondale, Ill.: SIU Press, 2009. ISBN 0-8093-2884-4; Sorkin, Andrew Ross. "Time Warner Is Said to Join MGM Bidding." New York Times. July 1, 2004; "Consortium Led By Sony Locks Up MGM Deal." New York Times. September 24, 2004. MGM Resorts International, a Las Vegas-based hotel and casino company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "MGM", is not currently affiliated with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 1957 also marked the end of the cartoon era at MGM, as the animation unit was closed to cut costs. Instead, MGM decided to rerelease older cartoons (they had proved popular when released alongside new shorts). Hanna and Barbera moved to television with the formation of Hanna-Barbera Productions. In 1961, MGM resumed releasing new Tom and Jerry shorts, and production moved to Rembrandt Films in Czechoslovakia, under the supervision of Gene Deitch. Deitch's Tom and Jerry cartoons are noteworthy as being very distant from the original Hanna and Barbera style of animation. In 1963, the production of Tom and Jerry returned to Hollywood under Chuck Jones and his "Sib Tower-12 Productions". Jones' group also produced their own works, winning an Oscar for The Dot and the Line, as well as producing the classic television version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (with Theodore Geisel). Jones' association with MGM ended in 1967. MGM fell into a habit in this period which would eventually sink the studio: an entire year's production schedule was reliant on the success of one big-budget epic each year. This policy began well, in 1959, when an expensive remake of Ben-Hur was profitable enough to carry the studio through 1960. But later attempts at big-budget epics failed, among them Cimarron (1961), Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1961), and most notoriously, the 1962 remake of Mutiny on the Bounty. As MGM sank (along with the other main-line studios), a series of studio heads came and went, along with a succession of corporate managers, all hoping to bring back the studio's glory days. History Founding In 1924, movie theater magnate Marcus Loew had a problem. He had bought Metro Pictures Corporation (founded in 1916) and Goldwyn Pictures (founded in 1917) to provide a steady supply of films for his large Loew's Theatres chain. However, these purchases created a need for someone to oversee his new Hollywood operations, since longtime assistant Nicholas Schenck was needed in New York headquarters to oversee the 150 theaters. Loew addressed the situation by buying Louis B. Mayer Pictures on April 17, 1924. Because of his decade-long success as a producer, Mayer was made a vice-president of Loew's and head of studio operations in California, with Harry Rapf and Irving Thalberg as heads of production. For decades MGM was listed on movie title cards as "Controlled by Loew's, Inc." Originally, the new studio's films were presented in the following manner: "Louis B. Mayer presents a Metro-Goldwyn picture", but Mayer soon added his name to the studio with Loew's blessing. Though Loew's Metro was the dominant partner, the new studio inherited Goldwyn's studios in Culver City, California, the former Goldwyn mascot Leo the Lion (which replaced Metro's parrot symbol), and the Goldwyn corporate motto Ars Gratia Artis ("Art for art's sake"). Mayer wanted to replace the Latin motto with "Art is Beholding to the Artist" in English, but was overruled by Schenck. Also inherited from Goldwyn was a runaway production, Ben–Hur (the silent version), which had been filming in Rome for months at great cost. Mayer scrapped most of what had been shot and relocated production to Culver City. Though Ben–Hur was the most costly film made up to its time, it became MGM's first great public-relations triumph, establishing an image for the company that persisted for years. Also in 1925, with successes from both The Big Parade and Ben–Hur, MGM surpassed Universal Studios as the largest studio in Hollywood, a distinction it would maintain for over 30 years. Marcus Loew died in 1927, and control of Loew's passed to Nicholas Schenck. In 1929, William Fox of Fox Film Corporation bought the Loew family's holdings with Schenck's assent. Mayer and Thalberg disagreed with the decision. Mayer used political connections to persuade the Justice Department to delay final approval of the deal on antitrust grounds. During this time, in the summer of 1929, Fox was badly hurt in an automobile accident. By the time he recovered, the stock market crash in the fall of 1929 had nearly wiped Fox out and ended any chance of the Loew's merger going through. Schenck and Mayer had never gotten along (Mayer reportedly referred to his boss as "Mr. Skunk"), and the abortive Fox merger increased the animosity between the two men. Also, in 1933 Loew's Incorporated was in the process of acquiring bankrupt Paramount Pictures and its 1700 theatres, until profits from Mae West's risque features rescued the failing Paramount. MGM's golden age ]] From the outset, MGM tapped into the audience's need for glamour and sophistication. Having inherited few big names from their predecessor companies, Mayer and Thalberg began at once to create and publicize a host of new stars, among them Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, William Haines, Joan Crawford, and Norma Shearer (who followed Thalberg from Universal) . Established names like Lon Chaney, William Powell, Buster Keaton, and Wallace Beery were hired from other studios. They also hired top directors such as King Vidor, Clarence Brown, Erich von Stroheim, Tod Browning, and Victor Seastrom. The arrival of talking pictures in 1928–29 gave opportunities to other new stars, many of whom would carry MGM through the 1930s: Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Robert Montgomery, Spencer Tracy, Myrna Loy, Jeanette MacDonald, and Nelson Eddy among them. MGM was one of the first studios to experiment with filming in Technicolor. Using the two-color Technicolor process then available, MGM filmed portions of The Uninvited Guest (1923), The Big Parade (1925), and Ben–Hur (1925), among others, in the process. In 1928, MGM released The Viking, the first complete Technicolor feature with sound (including a synchronized score and sound effects but no spoken dialogue). MGM, however, was the very last studio to convert to "talkies" with its first all-color, "all-talking" sound feature with dialogue The Rogue Song, a 1930 musical. In 1934 MGM included a sequence made in Technicolor's superior new three-color process, a musical number in the otherwise black-and-white The Cat and the Fiddle, starring perky Jeanette MacDonald and faded Ramon Novarro. The studio then produced a number of three-color short subjects including 1935's musical La Fiesta de Santa Barbara, however MGM waited until 1938 to film a complete feature in the process, Sweethearts with MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, the earlier of the popular singing team's two films in color. and Wallace Beery in Min and Bill (1930)]] From then on, MGM regularly produced several films a year in Technicolor, The Wizard of Oz and Northwest Passage being two of the most notable. MGM also released the enormously successful Technicolor film Gone with the Wind, starring Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara and Clark Gable as Rhett Butler. (Although Gone With the Wind was produced by Selznick International Pictures, it was released by MGM as part of a deal for producer David O. Selznick (L.B. Mayer's son-in-law) to obtain the services of Clark Gable. MGM did eventually acquire all rights to Gone With the Wind. In addition to a large short subjects program of its own, MGM also released the shorts and features produced by Hal Roach Studios, including comedy shorts starring Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang, and Charley Chase. MGM's distribution deal with Roach lasted from 1927 to 1938, and MGM benefited in particular from the success of the popular Laurel and Hardy films. In 1938, MGM purchased the rights to Our Gang and moved the production in-house,Ward, Richard Lewis (2005). A History of Hal Roach Studios. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press. pp. 116, 225. ISBN 0-8093-2637-X. continuing production of the successful series of children's comedies until 1944. From 1929 to 1931, MGM produced a series of comedy shorts called ''All Barkie Dogville Comedies'', in which trained dogs were dressed up to parody contemporary films and were voiced by actors. One of the shorts, The Dogway Melody (1930), spoofed MGM's hit 1929 musical The Broadway Melody.[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0216719/ The Dogway Melody (1930)] at Internet Movie Database. MGM produced fifty pictures a year, though it never met its goal of releasing a new motion picture each and every week (It was only able to release one feature film every nine days). Loew's chain of 153 theatres were mostly located in New York, the Northeast, and Deep South; Gone With the Wind had its world premiere at Loew's Grand Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. A fine reputation was gained for lavish product that were sophisticated and polished to cater to an urban audience. Still, as the Great Depression deepened, MGM began to economize by "recycling" existing sets, costumes, and furnishings from yesteryear projects. This recycling practice never let up once started. Also, money was saved by MGM being the only one of the big five studios that did not own an off site movie ranch. Up until the mid-1950s MGM could make a claim its rivals could not: it never lost money, although it did have an occasional disaster like Parnell (1937), Clark Gable's biggest flop. It was the only Hollywood studio that continued to pay dividends during the 1930s. in Fury (1936)]] MGM stars dominated the box office during the 1930s, and the studio was credited for inventing the Hollywood stable of stars system as well. MGM contracted with The American Musical Academy of Arts Association to handle all of their press and artist development. The AMAAA's main function was to develop the budding stars and to make them appealing to the public. Stars like Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, and Jeanette MacDonald all four reigned as not only the top paid figures at the studio, but in Hollywood itself. Another MGM sex symbol actress, Jean Harlow, who had previously appeared in the Howard Hughes film Hell's Angels, now had a big break and became one of MGM's most admired stars as well;. Despite Miss Harlow's gain, Garbo still was a big star for MGM. Shearer was still a money maker despite screen appearances becoming scarce, and Crawford continued her box office power up until 1937. MGM would also receive a boost through the man who would become "King of Hollywood", Clark Gable; Gable's career took off to new heights after he won an Oscar for the 1934 Columbia film It Happened One Night.Gable's Oscar recently drew a top bid of $607,500 from Steven Spielberg, who promptly donated the statuette to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. (Colbert's Oscar for the same film was offered for auction by Christie's on June 9, 1997, but no bids were made for it.) Mayer and Irving Thalberg's relationship began warmly but eventually the two became estranged; Thalberg preferred literary works to the crowd-pleasers Mayer wanted. Thalberg, always physically frail, was removed as head of production in 1932. Mayer encouraged other staff producers, among them his son-in-law David O. Selznick, but no one seemed to have the sure touch of Thalberg. As Thalberg fell increasingly ill in 1936, Louis Mayer could now serve as his temporary replacement. Rumors flew that Thalberg was leaving to set up his own independent company; his early death in 1936, at age thirty-seven, cost MGM dearly. After the death of Thalberg As a result of Thalberg's death, Mayer became head of production as well as studio chief, becoming the first million-dollar executive in American history. The company remained profitable, although a change toward "series" pictures (Andy Hardy starring Mickey Rooney, Maisie starring Ann Sothern, Thin Man starring William Powell & Myrna Loy et al.) is seen by some as evidence of Mayer's restored influence. Also playing a huge role was Ida Koverman, Mayer's "right hand woman". Within one short year, beginning in 1942, L.B. Mayer released his four highest-paid actresses from their studio contracts; Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer. Greta Garbo and Jeanette MacDonald. After a two-year hiatus Crawford moved to Warner Bros. where her career took a dramatic upturn for the better: Shearer and Garbo never made another film after leaving the lot. Of the four stars MacDonald was the only one whom Mayer rehired, in 1948. Increasingly, before and during World War II, Mayer came to rely on his "College of Cardinals"—senior producers who controlled the studio's output. This management-by-committee may explain why MGM seemed to lose its momentum, developing few new stars and relying on the safety of sequels and bland material. (Dorothy Parker memorably referred to it as "Metro-Goldwyn-Merde." ) Production values remained high, and even "B" pictures carried a polish and gloss that made them expensive to mount. After 1940, production was cut from fifty pictures a year to a more manageable twenty-five features per year. It was during this time that MGM released very successful musicals with players such as Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and Frank Sinatra, to name just a few. As audiences drifted away after the war, MGM found it difficult to attract them. While other studios backed away from the popular musicals of the war years, MGM increased its output to as many as five or six each year, roughly one-quarter of its annual output. Ann Miller once admitted that "Mayer kept making musicals that nobody wanted to see." A good example of this would be The Pirate (1948). Such pictures were expensive to produce, requiring a full staff of songwriters, arrangers, musicians, dancers, and technical support, and releasing so many each year affected the company's finances. By the late forties, as MGM's profit margins decreased, word came from Schenck in New York: find "a new Thalberg" who could improve quality while paring costs. Mayer thought he had found this savior in Dore Schary, a writer and producer who had found success at running RKO. Dore Schary Mayer's taste for wholesomeness and "beautiful" movies conflicted with Schary's preference for gritty message pictures. In August 1951, after a period of friendly antagonism with Schary, Mayer was fired. One report states that Mayer called Joseph Schenck at Loew's Corporate Headquarters in Loew's State Theater, New York, with an ultimatum— "It's either him or me!" Schenck chose Schary! Within a year Mayer tried to stage a boardroom coup to oust his old nemesis, but failed due to lack of support from former "yes men". Perhaps because of Mayer's leaving (although this has never been confirmed), the credit Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer presents does not appear on any MGM film made between 1950 and 1957, the year of Louis B. Mayer's death. In films made during those years, the credits segue straight from the roaring lion logo to the title of the film (as in MGM's 1951 film of Show Boat''http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed_Hmpp3rLg or, in the case of above-the-title billing, the names of the stars and then the film's title. Beginning in 1957, the ''Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer presents credit was reinstated. Gradually cutting loose expensive contract players (perhaps most famously, $6,000-a-week Judy Garland in 1950), saving money by recycling existing movie sets instead of building costly new scenery, and reworking pricey old costumes, Schary managed to keep the studio running much as it had through the early 1940s though his sensibilities for hard-edged, message movies would never bear much fruit. One bright spot were MGM musicals pictures, under the aegis of producer Arthur Freed, who was operating what amounted to an independent unit within the studio. MGM produced some well-regarded and profitable Technicolor musicals that would be later acknowledged as classics, among them An American in Paris (1951), Singin' in the Rain (1952), and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954). On the other hand Brigadoon (1954), Deep in My Heart (1954), It's Always Fair Weather (1955), and Invitation to the Dance (1956), were extravagant song & dance flops, and even the now-classic The Band Wagon (1953) was only a modest box-office success. Movie audiences more and more were staying home and watching television. In 1954, as a settlement of the government's restraint-of-trade action, United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. 334 US 131 (1948), Loews, Inc. gave up control of MGM. It would take another five years before the interlocking arrangements were completely undone, by which time both Loews and MGM were sinking. Schary bowed out of MGM in 1956. MGM cartoon shorts In animation, MGM purchased the rights in 1930 to distribute a series of cartoons that starred a character named Flip the Frog, produced by Ub Iwerks. The first cartoon in this series (entitled Fiddlesticks) was the first sound cartoon to be produced in two-color Technicolor. In 1933, Ub Iwerks cancelled the unsuccessful Flip the Frog series and MGM began to distribute its second series of cartoons, starring a character named Willie Whopper, that was also produced by Ub Iwerks. In 1934, after Iwerks' distribution contract expired, contracted with animation producers/directors Hugh Harman and Rudolph Ising to produce a new series of color cartoons. Harman and Ising came to MGM after breaking ties with Leon Schlesinger and Warner Bros., and brought with them their popular Looney Tunes character, Bosko. These were known as Happy Harmonies and in many ways resembled the Looney Tunes' sister series, Merrie Melodies. The Happy Harmonies regularly ran over budget, and MGM dismissed Harman-Ising in 1937 to start its own animation studio. After initial struggles with a poorly received series of Captain and the Kids cartoons, the studio re-hired Harman and Ising in 1939, and Ising created the studio's first successful animated character, Barney Bear. However, MGM's biggest cartoon stars would come in the form of the cat-and-mouse duo Tom and Jerry, created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera in 1940. The Tom and Jerry cartoons won seven Academy Awards between 1943 and 1953. In 1941, Tex Avery, another Schlesinger alumnus, joined the animation department. It was Avery who gave the unit its image, with successes like Red Hot Riding Hood, Swing Shift Cinderella, and the Droopy series. Avery left the studio in 1953, leaving Hanna and Barbera to focus on the popular Tom and Jerry and Droopy series. After 1955, all cartoons were filmed in CinemaScope until MGM closed its cartoon division in 1957. Decline Vogel-Siegel As the studio system faded in the late 1950s and 1960s, MGM's prestige faded with it. In 1957 (by coincidence, the year L.B. Mayer died) the studio lost money for the first time in its 34-year history. Cost overruns and the failure of the 1957 big-budget epic Raintree County prompted the studio to release Schary from his contract. Schary's reign at MGM had been marked with few bona-fide hits, but his departure (along with the retirement of Schenck in 1955) left a power vacuum that would prove difficult to fill. Initially Joseph Vogel became president and Sol Siegel head of production. By 1960, MGM had released all of its contract players, with many either retiring or moving on to television. At the urging of Leonard Goldenson, longtime head of Paramount's theater chain who now ran ABC, MGM began to enter television production. MGM's first attempts at programming were cross-promotion of feature films (The MGM Parade), and based on successful film properties like The Thin Man. Several years later, MGM produced highly successful TV series, like The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and the sitcom version of The Courtship of Eddie's Father. The year 1957 also marked the end of MGM's animation department, as the studio determined it could generate the same amount of revenue by reissuing older cartoons as it could by producing and releasing new ones.Barbera, J: How Bill & Joe met Tom & Jerry, interviews with William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Warner Home Video, 2005 William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, by then the heads of the MGM cartoon studio, took most of their unit and made their own company, Hanna-Barbera Productions, a successful producer of television animation. In 1956, MGM sold the television rights for The Wizard of Oz to CBS, which scheduled it to be shown in November of that year. In a landmark event, the film became the first American theatrical fiction film to be shown complete in one evening on prime time television over a major American commercial network. (Olivier's version of Hamlet was shown on prime time network TV a month later, but split in half over two weeks, and the 1950 film, The Titan: Story of Michelangelo was telecast by ABC in 1952, but that was a documentary.) Beginning in 1959, and lasting until 1991, telecasts of The Wizard of Oz became an annual tradition, drawing huge audiences in homes all over the U.S. and earning additional profits for MGM. The studio was all too happy to see Oz become, through television, one of the two or three most famous films MGM has ever made, and one of the few films that nearly everybody in the U.S. has seen at least once. Today The Wizard of Oz is regularly shown on the Turner-owned channels, no longer just once a year. In 1958, MGM released what is generally considered their last great musical, Arthur Freed's Cinemascope color production of Gigi, starring Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, and Louis Jourdan. It was adapted from the novel by Colette, and written by the team of Lerner and Loewe, who also wrote My Fair Lady and Camelot. Gigi was a box-office and critical success which won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture. From it came several hit songs, including Thank Heaven For Little Girls, I Remember It Well, the Waltz at Maxim's, and the Oscar-winning title song. The film was the last MGM musical to win a Best Picture Oscar, an honor that had previously gone to The Broadway Melody (1929), The Great Ziegfeld (1936), and An American in Paris (1951). The very last musical film produced by the "Freed Unit" was an adaptation of the Broadway musical Bells Are Ringing (1960) with Judy Holliday and Dean Martin. However, MGM did release later musical films, including an adaptation of Meredith Willson's The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) with Debbie Reynolds and Harve Presnell. In 1959, MGM enjoyed what is quite likely their greatest financial success of later years, with the release of its nearly four-hour Technicolor epic Ben–Hur, a remake of their 1925 silent film hit, based on the novel by General Lew Wallace. Starring Charlton Heston in the title role, the film was critically acclaimed, and won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, a record that held until Titanic matched it in 1997 and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003. In 1961, MGM resumed the release of new Tom and Jerry shorts, and production moved to Rembrandt Films in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) under the supervision of Gene Deitch. Deitch's Tom and Jerry cartoons are very different in style from the original Hanna and Barbera style of animation. In 1963, the production of Tom and Jerry returned to Hollywood under Chuck Jones and his Sib Tower 12 Productions studio (later absorbed by MGM and renamed MGM Animation/Visual Arts). Jones' group also produced its own works, winning an Oscar for The Dot and the Line, as well as producing the classic television version of Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (with the voice of Boris Karloff) in 1966. Tom and Jerry folded in 1967, and the animation department continued with television specials and one feature film, The Phantom Tollbooth. MGM fell into a habit in this period that would eventually sink the studio: an entire year's production schedule relied on the success of one big-budget epic each year. This policy began in 1959, when Ben–Hur was profitable enough to carry the studio through 1960. However, later attempts at big-budget epics failed, among them four films which, in addition to Ben–Hur, were also remakes — Cimarron (1960), King of Kings (1961), Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1961), and most notoriously, the 1962 Mutiny on the Bounty. The 1962 Cinerama film The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, the first film in Cinerama to actually tell a story, was also a flop. But one other epic that was a success, however, was the MGM-Cinerama co-production How the West Was Won, with a huge all-star cast. King of Kings, while a commercial and critical flop at the time, has since come to be regarded as a film classic. The losses caused by these films led to the resignations of Sol Siegel and Joseph Vogel who were replaced by Robert M. Weitman (head of production) and Robert O'Brien (president). O'Brien-Weitman The combination of O'Brien and Weitman seemed to temporarily revive the studio. In 1965 MGM released David Lean's immensely popular Doctor Zhivago, later followed by such hits as The Dirty Dozen (1967) and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). However the company's time was taken up fighting off proxy attacks by corporate raiders, and then MGM backed a series of flops, including Ryan's Daughter (1970). Weitman moved over to Columbia in 1967 and O'Brien was forced to resign a few years later. Kerkorian takes over and MGM downsized Edgar Bronfman, Sr. purchased a controlling interest in MGM in 1966 (and was briefly chairman of the board in 1969),McDouglas, Dennis. The Last Mogul: Lew Wasserman, MCA, and the Hidden History of Hollywood. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Da Capo Press, 2001. ISBN 0-306-81050-6; Newman, Peter Charles. King of the Castle: The Making of a Dynasty: Seagram's and the Bronfman Empire. New York: Atheneum, 1979. ISBN 0-689-10963-6 and in 1967 Time Inc. became the company's second-largest shareholder.Prednergast, Curtis and Colvin, Geoffrey. The World of Time Inc: The Intimate History of a Changing Enterprise, Volume Three: 1960–1980. New York: Atheneum, 1986. ISBN 0-689-11315-3; Diamond, Edwin. "The Power Vacuum at Time Continues.'' New York. October 23, 1972. In 1969, Kirk Kerkorian purchased 40 percent of MGM from Bronfman and Time, Inc.,Lewis, Jon. "Money Matters: Hollywood in the Corporate Era." The New American Cinema. Jon Lewis, ed. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-8223-2115-7 What appealed to Kerkorian was MGM's Culver City real estate, and the value of 45 years' worth of glamour associated with the name, which he attached to a Las Vegas hotel and casino. As for film-making, that part of the company was quickly and severely downsized under the supervision of James T. Aubrey, Jr. With changes in its business model including fewer pictures per year, more location shooting and more distribution of independent productions, MGM's operations were rationalized. Aubrey sold off MGM's accumulation of props, furnishings and historical memorabilia, including a pair of Dorothy's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz. Lot 3, of back-lot property, was sold off for real-estate development. Through the 1970s studio output slowed considerably—Aubrey preferred four or five medium-budget pictures each year, along with a smattering of low-budget fare. With the decline in output, Kerkorian closed MGM's sales and distribution offices in 1973 and outsourced those functions to United Artists. Kerkorian now distanced himself from the operations of the studio, focusing on his casino properties. Another portion of the back lot was sold in 1974. The last shooting done on the backlot was the introductory material for That's Entertainment! a retrospective documentary that became a surprise hit for the studio. The MGM Recording Studios were sold in 1975. In 1979, Kerkorian declared that MGM was now primarily a hotel company. The company hit a symbolic low point in 1980 when David Begelman, earlier let go by Columbia following the discovery of his acts of forgery and embezzlement, was installed as MGM's President and CEO. MGM/UA, Turner, and Parretti In 1980, MGM split its production and casino units into separate companies: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Film Co. and MGM Grand Hotels, Inc.Prince, Stephen (2000) A New Pot of Gold: Hollywood Under the Electronic Rainbow, 1980-1989 (p. 14-16, ). University of California Press, Berkeley/Los Angeles, California. ISBN: 0-520-23266-6 The rise of ancillary markets was enough to allow MGM Film Co. to increase production to 10-15 films a year compared to three to six in the previous decade, but first it needed its own distribution unit. MGM proceeded to get back into theatrical distribution in 1981 with its purchase of United Artists, as UA's parent company Transamerica Corporation decided to let go of the studio following the failure of Heaven's Gate.Bart, Peter. Fade Out: The Calamitous Final Days of MGM. New York: Morrow, 1990. ISBN 0-688-08460-5 As a result, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Film Co. was renamed "MGM/UA Entertainment Company." Unfortunately, the new films were box-office flops and not even its greatest asset - its library - was enough to keep the studio afloat. After 1982, the studio relied more on distribution, picking up independent productions, rather than financing their own. On August 7, 1985, Ted Turner's Turner Broadcasting System offered to buy MGM/UA. As film licensing to television became more complicated, Turner saw the value of acquiring MGM's film library for his superstation WTBS. On March 25 of the following year, the deal was finalized in a cash-stock deal for $1.5 billion,Parsons, Patrick. Blue Skies: A History of Cable Television. Philadelphia, Pa.: Temple University Press, 2008. ISBN 1-59213-287-1; Stefoff, Rebecca. Ted Turner, Television's Triumphant Tiger. Ada, Okla.: Garrett Educational Corp., 1991. ISBN 1-56074-024-8 and was renamed "MGM Entertainment Co.". Turner immediately sold MGM's United Artists subsidiary back to Kerkorian. But unable to find financing for the rest of the deal, and concerns in the financial community over the debt-load of his companies, on October 17, 1986, he was forced to sell MGM back to Kerkorian for approximately $780 million USD ($480 million for United Artists and $300 million for the MGM logo).Fabrikant, Geraldine. "Turner to Sell MGM Assets." The New York Times. June 7, 1986. The MGM lot and lab facilities were sold to Lorimar-Telepictures. Turner kept the pre-1986 library of MGM films, along with pre-1950 Warner Bros. and RKO Pictures films which MGM had previously purchased. How much of MGM's back catalog Turner actually obtained was a point of conflict for a time; eventually it was determined that Turner owned all of the pre-May 1986 MGM library, as well as the pre-1950 Warner Bros. catalog,You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story (2008), p. 255.WB retained a pair of features from 1949 that they merely distributed, and all short subjects released on or after September 1, 1948, in addition to all cartoons released in August 1948. the Popeye cartoons released by Paramount (both the pre-1950 WB library and Popeye cartoons were sold to Associated Artists Productions, which was later bought by United Artists), the US/Canadian rights to the RKO library, and a good share of United Artists's own back list, in addition to MGM's television series and Gilligan's Island, produced by UA. Turner began broadcasting MGM films through his Turner Network Television, and caused a controversy when he began "colorizing" many black and white classics. After Kerkorian reclaimed MGM, the MGM/UA name continued to be utilized, but it changed its name to MGM/UA Communications Co., now using Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and United Artists Pictures as separate brands. In July 1988, Kerkorian announced plans to split MGM and UA into separate studios. Under this deal, Kerkorian, which owned 82% of MGM/UA Communications, would have sold 25% of MGM to Barris Industries (controlled by producers Burt Sugarman, Jon Peters, and Peter Guber). The proposition to spin-off MGM was called off a few weeks later. In 1989, Australian-based Qintex attempted to buy MGM from Kerkorian, but the deal collapsed.Stevenson, Richard W. "Deal to Buy MGM/UA Collapses." New York Times. October 11, 1989. In 1990, the Italian financier, Giancarlo Parretti, announced that he was about to buy MGM/UA. Although the French government had scuttled Parretti's bid to buy Pathé due to concerns about his character, background and past dealings, Parretti got backing from Crédit Lyonnais and bought MGM/UA from Kirk Kerkorian. He then merged it with his Pathé Communications Group (formerly Cannon Group, a distributor that Parretti had renamed before his aborted bid for Pathé) to form MGM–Pathe Communications Co. The well-respected executive, Alan Ladd, Jr., a former President of MGM/UA, was brought on board as CEO of MGM in 1991. However the same year Parretti's ownership dissolved in a flurry of lawsuits and a default by Crédit Lyonnais, and Parretti faced securities fraud charges in the United States and Europe. On the verge of bankruptcy and failure, Crédit Lyonnais took full control of MGM–Pathé and converted its name back to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The bank fired Ladd and replaced him with former Paramount executive Frank Mancuso, Sr. and former Warner Bros. executive John Calley (as United Artists head). As part of his exit package Ladd took some of the top properties, including Braveheart. In 1991, Thelma and Louise became a critical and commercial hit for MGM, something that was increasingly rare at the time. Because of the way they had acquired control of the company, Crédit Lyonnais soon put the studio up for sale, with the highest bidder being Kirk Kerkorian. Now the owner of MGM for the third time, Kerkorian's deal with Mancuso quickly angered John Calley, who quit United Artists and was named head of Sony Pictures Entertainment. By selling a portion of the studio to Australia's Seven Network, Kerkorian was able to convince Wall Street that a revived MGM was worthy of a place on the stock market, where it languished until he sold the company to a group of hedge funds tied to Sony, which wanted to control the studio library to promote the Blu-ray Disc format. 1997–2001: MGM restructures On April 11, 1997, MGM bought Metromedia's film subsidiaries (Orion Pictures, The Samuel Goldwyn Company, and the Motion Picture Corporation of America) for US$573 million, substantially enlarging its library of films and television series and acquiring additional production capacity.Bates, James. "Metromedia to Sell Film Units to MGM for $573 million." The New York Times. April 29, 1997. The deal closed in July of that year."Years of Hits, Misses Comes to Close." Daily News of Los Angeles. July 10, 1997; Bates, James. "MGM Lays Off 85 in Metromedia Film, TV Units." Los Angeles Times. July 11, 1997. This catalog, along with the James Bond franchise, was considered to be MGM's primary asset.Bates, James. "Deal Cements MGM's Bond to 007 Franchise." Los Angeles Times. March 30, 1999; Sorking, Andrew Ross and Fabrikant, Geraldine. "Sony Group Said to Be in Talks to Buy MGM." The New York Times. April 22, 2004. In the same year, MGM's long-running cable television series, Stargate SG-1, first aired.Shales, Tom. "On a Remote Planet . . . Click: Showtime's Sluggish 'Stargate SG-1'." The Washington Post. July 26, 1997; Spelling, Ian. "Anderson Leaps Into 'Stargate'." Chicago Tribune. July 24, 1997; Parks, Steve. "'Stargate's' Wormholes Might Hook You." Newsday. July 27, 1997. In 2000, MGM changed the way it distributed its products internationally. MGM had until that time distributed its films internationally through United International Pictures (UIP), a joint venture of MGM, Universal Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures. UIP was accused by the European Union of being an illegal cartel,Willcock, John. "Movie Moves." The Independent. February 24, 1999. and effective November 2000 MGM severed its ties with UIP and distributed films internationally through 20th Century Fox."Fox, MGM in Overseas Pact." Los Angeles Times. June 22, 1999; Orwall, Bruce. "Fox Enters Deal With MGM On International Distribution." Wall Street Journal. June 22, 1999; "MGM Preps O'Seas Ops As Fox Waits In Wings." Variety. August 7, 2000. Consortium ownership and financial troubles Many of MGM's competitors started to make bids to purchase the studio, beginning with Time Warner. It was not unexpected that Time Warner would bid, since the largest shareholder in the company was Ted Turner. His Turner Entertainment Group had risen to success in part through its ownership of the pre-May 1986 MGM library. After a short period of negotiation with MGM, Time Warner was unsuccessful. The leading bidder proved to be Sony Corporation of America, backed by Comcast and private equity firms Texas Pacific Group (now TPG Capital, L.P.), DLJ and Providence Equity Partners. Sony's primary goal was to ensure Blu-ray Disc support at MGM; cost synergies with Sony Pictures Entertainment were secondary. Time Warner made a counter-bid (which Ted Turner reportedly tried to block), but on September 13, 2004, Sony increased its bid of US$11.25/share (roughly $4.7 billion) to $12/share ($5 billion), and Time Warner subsequently withdrew its bid of $11/share ($4.5 billion). MGM and Sony agreed on a purchase price of nearly $5 billion, of which about $2 billion was to pay off MGM debt. http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=582625&section=finance From 2005–2006, the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group has domestically distributed films by MGM and UA. MGM announced that it would return as a theatrical distribution company. MGM negotiated and struck deals with The Weinstein Company, Lakeshore Entertainment, Bauer Martinez, and many other independent studios, and then announced its plans to release 14 feature films for 2006 and early 2007. MGM also hoped to increase the amount to over 20 by 2007. Lucky Number Slevin, released April 7, was the first film released under the new MGM era. Other recent films under the MGM/Weinstein deal include Clerks II and Bobby. Upon the MGM/Weinstein films' release on home video, however, full distribution rights revert to Weinstein (under Genius Products). On May 31, 2006 MGM announced that it would transfer its home video output from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment to 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (excepting co-productions with Columbia or TriStar, such as Eon Productions' James Bond franchise where Sony is a majority partner).Thomas K. Arnold and Gregg Kilday, "MGM forwards vid deal to Fox", hollywoodreporter.com, May 31, 2006 MGM also announced plans to restructure its worldwide television distribution operation. In addition MGM signed a deal with New Line Television in which MGM would handle New Line's U.S. film and series television syndication packages. MGM served as New Line's barter sales rep in the television arena until 2008. On November 2, 2006, producer/actor Tom Cruise and his production partner, Paula Wagner, signed an agreement with MGM to run United Artists. Wagner will serve as United Artists' chief executive. Cruise will produce and star in films for UA and MGM will distribute the movies. Over the next several years, MGM launched a number of initiatives in distribution and the use of new technology and media as well as joint ventures to promote and sell its products. In April 2007, it was announced that MGM movies would be able to be downloaded through Apple's iTunes service, with MGM bringing an estimated 100 of its existing movies to iTunes service, the California-based computer company revealed. The list of movies included the likes of modern features such as Rocky, Ronin, Mad Max and Dances with Wolves, along with more golden-era classics such as Lilies of the Field and The Great Train Robbery.MGM brings classic movies to iTunes. Google news, April 12, 2007. In October, the company launched MGM HD on DirecTV, offering a library of movies formatted in Hi Def. Also in 2007, MGM sold its distribution rights for countries outside of the United States to 20th Century Fox. MGM teamed up with Weigel Broadcasting to launch a new channel titled This TV on November 1, 2008.MGM Links with Weigel Broadcasting for Digital Subchannel Offering, Chicago Tribune, July 28, 2008Weigel, MGM Hope "This" Thing's a Hit, Broadcasting & Cable, October 27, 2008 On August 12, 2008, MGM teamed up with Comcast to launch a new video-on-demand network titled Impact.Comcast and MGM Announce Partnership to Launch Impact, Comcast.com, August 13, 2008 On November 10, 2008, MGM announced that it will release full-length films on YouTube.MGM Will Be First Major Studio to Put Full Movies on YouTube, Ars Technica, November 10, 2008 As of mid-2009, MGM had US$3.7 billion in debt, and interest payments alone totalled $250 million a year.Waxman, Sharon. "Relativity Media Seeks Controlling Stake in MGM." TheWrap.com. May 17, 2009. Accessed August 19, 2009.McNary, Dave. "MGM Puts Skeptics at Ease." Variety. July 15, 2009.At least one other major news outlet claims the debt service is $300 million a year. See: Barnes, "MGM Replaces Chief Executive", The New York Times, August 18, 2009. MGM earns approximately $500 million a year on income from its extensive film and television library, but the economic recession is reported to have reduced this income substantially.Barnes, Brooks. "MGM Replaces Chief Executive." The New York Times. August 18, 2009.Bart, Peter. "Town Reacts to MGM's New Lionkeeper." Variety. August 18, 2009. Whether MGM could avoid voluntary or involuntary bankrupty had been a topic of much discussion in the film industry. MGM had to repay a US$250 million line of credit in April 2010, a US$1 billion loan in June 2011, and its remaining US$2.7 billion in loans in 2012. In May 2009, MGM's auditor gave the company a clean bill of health, concluding it was still on track to meet its debt obligations. At that time, the company was negotiating with its creditors to either extend the debt repayment deadlines or engage in a debt-for-equity swap. Industry observers, however, questioned whether MGM could avoid a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing under any circumstances, and concluded that any failure to conclude the negotiations must trigger a filing.DiOrio, Carl. "Firm Scoops Up MGM Debt." The Hollywood Reporter. May 18, 2009. MGM and its United Artists subsidiary now produce very few films each year, and it was widely believed that MGM's solvency will depend on the box office performance of these films (especially its upcoming 23rd James Bond film).DiOrio, Carl. "MGM Looks to Avoid Bankruptcy." The Hollywood Reporter. May 27, 2009. There was some indication that Relativity Media and its financial backer, Elliott Associates (a hedge fund based in New York), had been acquiring MGM debt in an attempt to force the company into involuntary bankruptcy.DiOrio, Carl. "Relativity Ally Buys MGM Debt." The Hollywood Reporter. May 19, 2009.MGM and Relativity Media had an agreement whereby MGM would distribute Relativity's films. The two companies disagreed over splitting these costs, and ended their agreement acrimoniously in April 2009. See: Lauria, Peter. "Relativity Kills Deal With MGM." New York Post. April 3, 2009. On August 17, 2009, chief executive officer Harry E. Sloan stepped down and MGM hired Stephen F. Cooper as its new CEO,MGM Files for Bankruptcy, Rejecting Lions Gate Bid, Bloomberg, November 3, 2010MGM Files for Bankruptcy, Rejects Bid; Providence Equity Flagged As a "Loser", Providence Business News, November 4, 2010 a corporate executive who guided Enron through its post-2001 bankruptcy and oversaw the restructuring and growth of Krispy Kreme in 2005.DiOrio, Carl. "Harry Sloan Out as CEO of MGM." The Hollywood Reporter. August 18, 2009;McNary, Dave. "Harry Sloan Out at MGM as CEO." Variety. August 18, 2009. Expectations were that Cooper was hired to act quickly on MGM's debt problems. On October 1, 2009, the studio's new leadership negotiated a forbearance agreement with its creditors under which interest payments due from September to November 2009 did not have to be paid until December 15, 2009.Eller, Claudia. "MGM Gets A Little Breathing Room On Its Interest Payments." Los Angeles Times. October 1, 2009. Attempted sale and bankruptcy protection After being installed in August 2009 as MGM's new CEO, Stephen Cooper tried to convince MGM's lenders that they should restructure the company's long-term debt in order to allow the studio to continue with its current business model.DiOrio, Carl. "MGM Sale Expects to Elicit Half-Dozen Bids." The Hollywood Reporter. December 7, 2009. The lenders refused to do so and argued that a sale was the only way to recoup their investment. Cooper agreed to conduct an auction to gauge the level of interest by potential buyers and the value of the assets for sale. On November 12, 2009, MGM announced it was "beginning a process to explore various strategic alternatives including operating as a standalone entity, forming strategic partnerships and evaluating a potential sale of the company."McNary, Dave. "MGM Officially On the Block." Variety. November 13, 2009.Kilday, Gregg. "Lenders Extend Deadline for MGM Payments." The Hollywood Reporter. November 13, 2009. Alternatives the company was exploring included the sale of the company or merger with another media firm,Barnes, Brooks. "Burdened by Billions in Debt, MGM Puts Itself Up for Sale." New York Times. November 13, 2009. or an asset auction, which could have included the sale of its 4,000-title film and television library, the company logo, rights to the ''James Bond'' franchise, and half-ownership in the three ''Hobbit'' films (part one now due for release December 14, 2012, part two December 13, 2013 and part three July 18, 2014). The studio also held out the possibility of gaining a large influx of cash from new investors, although industry analysts believed that alternative was unlikely to happen. Some industry analysts said sale of the studio could net $1.5 billion to $3 billion. Others pegged the value at between $2 billion to $2.5 billion.Eller, Claudia. "Lions Gate (and Every Other Media Company) Says It Would Buy MGM at Right Price." Los Angeles Times. November 12, 2009. Potential buyers include Time Warner (which already owns the pre-May 1986 MGM library, has enough cash reserves, and is co-producing the Hobbit films with MGM), Qualia Capital (a private equity fund led by Hollywood producer Amir Malin), 20th Century Fox (MGM's home entertainment distributor), and Lionsgate. MGM also announced that its creditors agreed to a forbearance on the company's debt payments originally until January 31, 2010, but the forbearance was extended to March 31, 2010. As of early December 2009, 16 companies had expressed interest in purchasing all or parts of MGM, although only two had actually negotiated a confidentiality agreement that would allow them to examine MGM's financial statements. The Hollywood Reporter said Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, and Lionsgate were the leading suitors for the company. Industry observers worried, however, that buyers might only bid on a few of MGM's assets such as the James Bond film franchise or The Hobbit film which would draw bids of less than $1 billion. At least one industry trade publication said creditors would accept offers amounting to $2 billion for parts or all of the studio. Even a bid or bids totalling $1.8 billion might be accepted, industry observers said, if the buyer agreed to "schmuck insurance" (the right to convert debt to equity, under certain conditions and time-frames). On December 18, press reports said that News Corporation's 20th Century Fox film studio had been interested in purchasing MGM, but that News Corp. could not agree to the "restrictive" terms of MGM's nondisclosure agreement,Chmielewski, Dawn C.; Fritz, Ben; and Eller, Claudia. "News Corp. Talks to Acquire MGM Reach Impasse." Los Angeles Times. December 18, 2009. which (in part) do not permit potential buyers to speak with MGM's creditors.Das, Anupreeta and Chakravorty, Jui. "MGM Sends Out Prospectus, Process Going Slow: Sources." Reuters. December 17, 2009. The strict terms of the nondisclosure agreement also led two other potential buyers to refuse to participate, and several others were negotiating over the terms and unable to participate in the process.DiOrio, Carl. "MGM Suitors Slow to Review Records." The Hollywood Reporter. December 19, 2009. The due diligence process was "going slowly" one trade publication reported, with only four of the potential 20 companies participating as of December 18. MGM originally set Friday, January 15, as the deadline to receive bids from the companies interested in acquiring the studio.Daswani, Mansha. "January 15 Set for MGM Bids." WorldScreen.com January 7, 2010.DiOrio, Carol. "MGM Likely to Draw Bids as Deadline Looms." Hollywood Reporter. January 6, 2010.Forrester, Chris. "MGM Bids Attracts Hollywood." Rapid TV News. January 12, 2010. However, fewer bids than expected were made.Chakravorty, Jui and Das, Anupreeta. "MGM Bid Deadline Passes, Most Bids Yet to Come." Reuters. January 15, 2010. Reliance Entertainment, which has a joint venture with DreamWorks, joined the bidding on the deadline date.Leahy, Joe; Li, Kenneth; and Edgecliffe-Johnson, Andrew. "Ambani's Indian Tiger Eyes Wounded MGM Lion." Financial Times. January 16, 2010. News Corp. reportedly signed a nondisclosure agreement on or about January 15, and was considering a bid. On January 17, the New York Times reported that bids had been received from Time Warner, Lionsgate, and a few smaller companies but that most of the offers were below the $2 billion minimum.Cieply, Michael and Barnes, Brooks. "In Hollywood, Grappling With Studios' Lost Clout." New York Times. January 17, 2010. Some of the bids may have been below $1 billion, and nearly all the bids would require MGM to file for bankruptcy first and shed its debt obligations. But the Financial Times said sources believed most bids were within the $1.5 to $2 billion range. Barclays Capital, a British investment bank, was quoted as saying, "We find it unlikely that MGM's creditors would cleanly agree to a sale price materially below $2bn." Time Warner, one media source reported, is seen by industry observers as the leading bidder since it already owns much of the MGM library and has large cash reserves. Qualia Capital, previously thought to be a potential bidder, has suggested that MGM's creditors could avoid forcing the studio into bankruptcy by agreeing to transform $500 million of debt into company stock (which would provide MGM with a cash infusion as well as eliminate a substantial portion of debt). By January 23, bids from Relativity Media (about $1.6 billion) and Reliance Entertainment (about $1.8 billion) were received as well. Six days later, MGM extended its deadline to March 31, and by the next day, News Corporation suggested that the company should offer MGM some cash to keep the company running. A few days later, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes stated that he was interested in MGM, but didn't need to be in any deals, but stated that they would think about it. At the same time, News Corporation announced that they were kicked out of the bidding after CEO Rupert Murdoch stated that he was being outbid by the other bidders, and later considered buying the now-defunct Miramax Films from Disney. Later, other bidders began bidding on Miramax and Liberty Media's Overture Films as well, which their respective owners have put up for bidding. MGM stated in February 2010 that the studio would likely be sold in the next 4 months, and that its latest film, Hot Tub Time Machine, may be one of the last four films to bear the MGM name. However, some stated that the company may continue as a label for new James Bond productions, as well as other movie properties culled from the MGM library. A few weeks later, MGM set March 19 as a deadline to receive bids from companies interested in acquiring the studio, including Time Warner and Lionsgate, although Time Warner was considered the most likely to buy the studio since its Warner Bros. catalog already included all the pre-1986 MGM titles originally acquired by Ted Turner. On December 2, 2010, the Federal Bankruptcy Court approved MGM's Chapter 11 reorganization plan.MGM Wins Approval of Bankruptcy Plan, New York Times, December 2, 2010MGM Reorganization Plan OK'd, Variety, December 2, 2010MGM Studio's Bankruptcy Plan Wins Judge's OK, Reuters, December 2, 2010Judge Approves MGM Bankruptcy Plan, Hollywood Reporter, December 2, 2010 On December 17, 2010, the company laid off about 50 staff members.MGM Lays Off Dozens of Staffers Friday, Hollywood Reporter, December 17, 2010MGM Slashes Staff Ahead of Bankruptcy Exit, Variety, December 17, 2010 Post-bankruptcy On December 20, 2010, MGM executives announced that the studio had emerged from bankruptcy.MGM Out of Bankruptcy, Entertainment Weekly, December 20, 2010MGM Restructuring Becomes Official, Variety, December 20, 2010 Spyglass partners Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum became co-Chairs and co-CEOs of the studio. After MGM emerged from bankruptcy, on December 23, 2010, MGM named Ann Mather, the ex-Pixar CFO to head MGM's new board of directors.MGM Sets Ex-Pixar CFO Ann Mather To Head New Board of Directors, deadline.com On December 29, 2010, MGM signed a new lease with New York-based group George Comfort & Sons for a 6-story building in the corner of 235–269 N. Beverly Drive that was intended to be the new headquarters for William Morris Agency. MGM will be leaving its old headquarters in Century City.Official: MGM Moving Into Office Building Once Intended For William Morris Agency, deadline.com On January 4, 2011, MGM and Weigel Broadcasting announced plans to distribute Me-TV nationwide.MGM, Weigel Taking MeTV Nationwide, Broadcasting & Cable, January 4, 2011MGM Launches Classic TV Service to Roar Like the Fonz, Los Angeles Times, January 4, 2011 On February 2, 2011, MGM named Jonathan Glickman to be the film president of MGM. Six days later, MGM was finalizing a distribution deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment to handle distribution of its 4,000 films and DVDs worldwide and on digital platforms, including the two upcoming Bond films: Skyfall and Bond 24. There were four studios who were bidding on the Bond distribution rights: Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and Columbia Pictures. Paramount was the first studio who dropped out of the Bond bidding. The deal was finalized on April 13, 2011. Post-bankruptcy, MGM also co-financed SPE's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. 20th Century Fox's deal with MGM handling its library distribution worldwide was set to expire in September 2011.Sony About To Recapture James Bond #23; UPDATE: MGM Leverages 007 For Deal On Sony's 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo', deadline.comSony finalizing distribution and co-financing deal with MGM, including next two "Bond" films, Los Angeles Times, February 8, 2011 However, the deal was renewed and extended on April 14, 2011 and will expire in 2016.TOLDJA! MGM Makes Distribution Deal With Sony Pictures That Includes James Bond, deadline.comMGM Re-Ups DVD Deal With Fox Through 2016, deadline.com A late 2011 financial report revealed that MGM reacquired its 100% stake in United Artists, which previously had a 30% stake by Tom Cruise. MGM might continue to make new films under the UA brand. MGM is finally moving forward with several upcoming projects, including remakes of RoboCop and Poltergeist,MGM Looks Ahead with "Mr. Mom", "Idolmaker", Variety, February 17, 2011MGM Finally Comes Back from the Dead with Five Projects including Remakes of "RoboCop" and "Poltergeist", Collider.com, February 18, 2011 and released their first post-bankruptcy film Zookeeper that was co-distributed by Columbia Pictures on July 8, 2011. The new MGM, under Barber and Birnbaum's control, is focusing on co-investing on films made by another party, which will handle all distribution and marketing for the projects. MGM will handle international television distribution rights for the new films as well as its library of existing titles.Fritz, Ben. "MGM film studio remade with a low-profile and a focused strategy." Los Angeles Times (December 13, 2011). In separate deals, the rights to MGM's completed films Red Dawn and The Cabin in the Woods were handed to FilmDistrict as well as Lionsgate Films, respectively.'Red Dawn' remake to come out next year from FilmDistrict, Los Angeles Times, September 26, 2011 On July 31, 2012, MGM announced to acquire Carl Icahn's stake in MGM Holdings for $590 million. Once the sale is complete, MGM will become a public company."Los Angeles Business" Icahn sells MGM stake for $590 million bizjournals.com, Retrieved on August 3, 2012 On October 3, 2012, Birnbaum announced his intention to exit his role as an MGM executive and return to "hands-on" producing. He will remain with the studio to produce films on "an exclusive basis."Finke, Nikki. "MGM's Roger Birnbaum Steps Down To Return To Producing; Gary Barber Now Revived Studio's Sole Chairman & CEO." Deadline.com (October 2, 2012). Films * List of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films See also * Leo the Lion, the MGM mascot * Toei Animation an MGM Parent Current and Former Names * Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (1924-1938) * Loew's, Incorporated (with MGM Logo 1938-1960) * Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. (1960-1980, 1992-1994) * Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Film Co. (1980-1981) * MGM/UA Entertainment Co. (1982-1986) * MGM Entertainment Co. (1986-1987) * Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Inc (1987-present) * MGM-Pathe Communications Co. (1991-1992) References External links * Official site * * * MGM Cartoons Wikia * MGM Wikia * MGM Resorts International from Hotels Wikia * MGM Network & MGM Toons from Ideas Wikia Category:Movie Studios Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer subsidiaries Category:Sony Pictures subsidiaries Warner Media Warner Media subsidiaries Category:Major Studios